Comparing Investments
1 Precious Metals – Can be volatile, require secure storage, may be flat for long periods of time.

2 Stocks – The market is vulnerable to all kinds of factors way beyond our control. What will be the next crisis that causes a collapse?

3 Treasuries – A thirty year bond yields just over 3 percent. If your yield is lower than inflation, you are losing purchasing power every day you hold this security.

4 Real Estate – Chances are, in the long term real estate will appreciate, regardless of what’s happening in the financial markets or economy. Just as the cost of manufacturing costs increases, i.e., wood, metal, concrete, and textiles, so does the value of real estate increases. All this considered, very few are successful at “flipping” properties. Real estate tends to be a long term investment.

5 Rental Real Estate – Perhaps the best way to leverage the bank’s money for your own benefit. This is an investment that someone else buys for you. An investment that you won’t pay taxes on when you sell it at a gain, and an investment that you can pull funds out of tax free.
Of course, most financial advisors will urge their clients to balance their portfolio among all of these different types of investments. Although rental real estate has so many obvious benefits, many are still reluctant to jump in. Well, imagine buying several rental properties over the next several years, letting tenants pay for them, and owning them outright 20 or 30 years from now. Does that sound attractive? We have clients who we mange for that have rental income and own properties today beyond their wildest dreams.

Real estate values may rise and fall, but rents rarely fall. Texas, in particular, and the Houston area shows growth and promise for the foreseeable future.